


for all the windows in brooklyn

by captaindumbass



Category: Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexuality, Bottom Steve Rogers, Coming Out, Dogs, F/M, Hospitals, M/M, Meet-Cute, New York City, Photography, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Roommates, Top Thor (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 16:29:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18319040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaindumbass/pseuds/captaindumbass
Summary: Steve’s running a hand through his hair while the other still clutches the frozen spinach bag to his broken face. “This isn’t the dogs fault it’s that giant hot blonde idiot who wasn't looking where he was going!”“So, it’s your fault?” Bucky drags on and smirks knowingly that Steve’s getting riled up. He puts down the broken camera on the coffee table and sits down next to Steve who turns his head to look at Bucky in disbelief.“No! The guy who was walking them!”“Well, you said giant hot blonde idiot and I just assumed that was you.” Bucky shrugs.





	for all the windows in brooklyn

**Author's Note:**

> a reupload of an old fic I plan on continuing. shout out to @avengingbucks who wrote this first chapter with me.

Steve walks into the apartment clutching his nose and kicking off his Nike’s whilst cursing under his breath. He rushes to the bathroom clumsily, trying to keep his head elevated although it seems kind of redundant as there are already drops of heavy crimson on the white of his shirt. He carefully puts down his camera on the tiles, the cracked lens making a sound that kills him on the inside every time he hears it. He momentarily wished that the crunching sound was coming from his nose rather than the camera, at least that would be cheaper to fix.

It had all started out so well, the weather was good, warm but not that sticky heat that felt and smelled like being choked with a sweaty gym shirt, Bucky hadn’t kept him up all night with one of his recent conquests and the milk in the fridge was an entire day before the best before date. Steve had been excited and ready to document the protest against the bastard now running the country. Excitement and anger were always a deadly combination when it came to Steve, he’d always loved a good protest. Bucky used to come with him but got tired of peeling Steve off the pavement when it got too heated. Today was going to be different, Steve was there to be passive and capture the protest that ran through the streets of New York. He never thought he’d actually end up with a fist in his face and possibly a broken nose but it seemed like _a very Steve thing_ to happen.

As he takes closer look at his nose in the mirror, he knows there will be a nasty bruise formed across it and under his eyes by tomorrow. The pain causes him to hiss between his teeth. He shakes his head and he clutches the sink until the pain in his head becomes a dull ache. With his eyes shut and his face scrunched up in a frozen grimace, he fights the urge to sneeze, knowing that the bathroom will look like a crime scene if he does. His nose sears with pain as the tingle of the sneeze builds. _Definitely broken then_ , he sighs and snatches the towel from the wall as he dampens it with cold water and holds it against his nose. He’ll get the blood stains out later. His ma always bought white towels because they were easier to bleach after Steve would come home from a fight and her and Bucky would clean him up.

Steve hears the sound of bare feet on hardwood floors and then a snort behind him, “Jesus, Rogers. What the hell happened?” Bucky asks as he leans on the doorframe, smug smile on his face and arms crossed over his chest. Bucky got that _told you so_ look on his face that almost makes Steve want to start another fight.

He sniffles before letting out a groan, “Protest got physical.”

Bucky motions to Steve for him to bring the towel down from his face so he can get a better look. He takes a sharp intake of breath as he sees the mess of Steve’s nose, “Someone protested against your pretty face?”

Steve rolls his eyes and examines the blood on the towel. “Shut up, Barnes. No, I wanted to take a photo and someone didn’t like their picture being taken so they decided to throw a fit.”

Bucky exits the bathroom quickly and Steve hears the familiar sound of things being shuffled around in the freezer. Bucky returns and hands him a bag of frozen spinach.

Steve prefers frozen peas for this kind of work, the spinach sits in hard clumps with kinda sharp corners against a broken nose. Although, both him and Bucky hate peas. It was one of the many things that brought them together as children, that and the fact that Bucky could end the fights that Steve started. Steve winces as one of the harder lines makes contact with particularly tender areas.

Bucky holds up his hands, “I’m not going to buy peas just for when you start fights” he chuckles but stops when he sees the camera with the broken lens on the tiles. “Ahh, man, not the lens!”

“Ah, yeah...” Steve feels the heavy sadness return in his guts and clicks his tongue. “Not only did I break my nose, but I collided with a giant on the way back and managed to fall whilst getting attacked by…” he remembers the four extremely happy dogs and frowns, “Wolves.”

“Wolves?” Bucky asks brows raised in disbelief, knowing that Steve tends to have a flair for the dramatic. Bucky looks at him and narrows his eyes.

“Fine!” Steve throws up his hands. “They were dogs” Steve responds and pushes his way out of the bathroom to sit on the sofa.

“I thought you loved dogs?” Bucky calls after him as he examines the lens he knows Steve started months ago saving up for.

Steve’s running a hand through his hair while the other still clutches the frozen spinach bag to his broken face. “This isn’t the dogs fault it’s that giant hot blonde idiot who wasn't looking where he was going!”

“So, it’s your fault?” Bucky drags on and smirks knowingly that Steve’s getting riled up. He puts down the broken camera on the coffee table and sits down next to Steve who turns his head to look at Bucky in disbelief.

“No! The guy who was walking them!”

“Well, you said giant hot blonde idiot and I just assumed that was you.” Bucky shrugs.

Steve narrows his eyes but as Bucky laughs that warm and genuine laugh of his Steve can’t help but relax into the couch. “Fuck off” he mumbles and then his eyes are fixated on the camera again. “I’m just upset” Steve confesses with that same sinking feeling you get when a pet gets taken ill. It’s not that Steve doesn’t have other lenses, but this one is his baby, the one that takes the best and sharpest images and the one he enjoys the most. It’s like the Ferrari of his lens collection. “I just have no idea how I’m going to replace it.”

“I could lend you the money until you sell some photos?” Bucky offers kindly and pushes his long hair out of his face. “With the raise and stuff I’ve got a little more cash so I would be more than happy to help out.”

Steve hesitates. Not that he doesn’t appreciate it, but it’s a lot of money. “Are you sure?” he asks.

Bucky snorts and gets up from the couch, “Of course I’m sure, idiot.” He walks over to the kitchen where he fetches a can of soda for the both of them. He sits back down and looks at Steve. “You know I’ll always help you out, Steve. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Speaking of work, how was it at the hospital?” Steve tries to avert the conversation, “Did you get everything you needed for the campaign from the guy you were meeting?”

Bucky rolls his eyes but gets a dreamy look on his face before he chuckles lightly. “I don’t think I could ever get enough from that guy.”

“First of all, what?” At first Steve looks genuinely perplexed, he imagined Bucky interrogating some poor hospital worker, handcuffed to a chair and a lamp shining in the poor guy’s face. Then Steve realises this is Bucky, this is far more likely to be a sexual thing than anything he’s seen on a 70’s cop show in the early hours of the morning. Steve grimaces and smiles, “Second of all, _what_?”

Bucky grins broadly, clearly revelling in the opportunity to talk about this guy.

“The guy was like some kind of norse god, alright, with the mind of a nobel prize winner and the heart of a golden retriever.” Bucky sighs just as dreamily as the look still plastered to his face. “He’s great.”

“Sounds like a catch, you get his number?”

“Nah, I was too busy trying to physically will away my boner and concentrate on trying to actually do my job.” Bucky laughs at the look on Steve’s face. “I could _conveniently lose_ some of my interview so I have an excuse to go back there a few more times than necessary.”

Steve scoffs and rolls his eyes, “I can’t believe you’d waste working hours on some kind of horn… actually I don’t know why I’m saying this, of course you would.”

Bucky wasn’t the most predictable guy, especially after he came back from serving overseas but when it came to hot people, Bucky was predictably relentless, everytime.

“Aren’t you horny like _all time_?” he asks Steve and Steve groans, hand covering his face with the frozen bag. “When did you last get some action Steve, 1943?”

Steve rolls his eyes and hopes the coldness from the bag hides the blush on his face. He worries momentarily that if his face gets too hot he’ll melt the plastic of the bag and he’ll get half-frozen spinach all over the couch. He can’t really remember the last time he got laid. All he knows is that it’s not been on his mind all that much, he’s had other things to focus on, like… work. God, his life is sad.

“Peggy?” Bucky’s elbow is resting on the back of the couch and he’s leaning his head in his hand shooting Steve a look. “When did she move back to England? A year ago?”

Steve waves him down, “It was all very complicated.”

“She was your boss, of course it was complicated!” Bucky sits up straighter as this topic is clearly something he loves talking about. “Look at you!” he squeezes Steve’s bicep and holds him still when Steve tries to escape. “How are you not fighting people away with a stick? I'm sure Nat has some girls she can set you up with!”

“Not after the Sharon incident” Steve groans and feels a headache coming on just thinking about it.

It had been nice, real nice, in theory. Sharon was lovely, brown eyes, blonde hair and a great personality that Steve loved. But he was nervous, clumsy and so, so extremely closed off it got awkward real fast. He was closed off to the point where he didn’t even notice it anymore. He had just resigned himself to accept this is the way he is now. It wasn’t until someone other than Bucky pressed I’m on anything when his wall suddenly became abundantly clear. Bucky used to call him Steve the Snapping Turtle when he got riled when they were kids, he’d get especially bad when someone asked him about something he _really_ didn’t feel like talking about. He’d kind of forgotten about the nickname until seeing the look on Sharon’s face when one of his words could have ruptured her jugular if he had been sitting a little closer.

So, after a stressful date and Sharon reporting back to Nat about how weirdly closed off and cold he was, Nat gave up sending girls Steve the Snapping Turtle’s way.

“You’ll never find someone if you can’t open up a little” she told him, to which Steve replied, “What if I don’t want anyone?”

He still thinks about that. What if he doesn’t want anyone? But then again he feels that loneliness weigh him down whenever he sees Bucky bringing home beautiful girls. They laugh and smile on his arm and Bucky does that stupid little salute before he disappears for hours into his bedroom. Whenever Buck brings hot guys over, Steve spends an hour in his own room doing filthy things to himself that he doesn’t ever talk about.

“Guys?” Bucky wiggles his eyebrows, “I'm always up for fooling around.”

Steve’s eyes go wide and he squirms a little, “Buuuck!” he throws a pillow at his friend but he bites the bottom of his lip, considering it. They’ve done it before and… Steve doesn’t mind a bit of making out or a couple of heated handjobs but it’s Bucky. His best friend since childhood and even if Bucky’s hot and amazing, they’re not really creating that spark that Steve’s thinks he’s looking for. Bucky was the first guy he ever fooled around with and he used to think Bucky was it, beautiful Bucky with his high cheekbones and dark hair but in reality he thinks there is a hard limit on wanting a relationship with someone who blew snot rockets at you as a child.

He used to think Peggy was it, whatever it was was. The day she left, she said she would come back for him. But as her father started to get better she got a job she loved and her life moved on without Steve. He knew he couldn’t resent her but it was hard thinking about the only person he’s ever loved living her life without him. Ever since then the occasional spark he felt with anyone was demoted to a lowly dim ember, petering out before they could set anything alight. They still keep in contact across the Atlantic and he’s happy that she’s happy, but it still sucks being left behind.

He sighs and tries to ignore the frustration growing inside of him. He sinks further into the couch, Bucky’s eyeing him with soft eyes and that tilted head look that means he wants to tickle you to death or makeout. Steve’s hoping for the latter.

“I’m gonna kiss you now” Bucky confirms.

Although he knows Bucky isn’t really what he is looking for, he isn’t ever going to turn down a chance to makeout with him, even if it is out of pity. Steve loves kissing and he kisses Bucky like it is a past time, like football or stamp collecting. Steve knows that Bucky feels the same way, one day he told Steve that making out with him was to him what knitting was to his grandmother. This didn’t really do much for Steve’s self esteem but it firmly planted their relationship in best friends with benefits arena.

“Pity kiss” Steve pouts but waits for it, a little excited.

“Call it what you want” Bucky smiles before leaning in and planting a soft, familiar kiss on Steve’s lips.

It’s always soft and it does give Steve that swooping little feeling in his guts whenever Bucky does kiss him. He loves the scruff against his skin, the large hands on either side of his face and Bucky’s knee between his legs. He always wants more but again the voice in his head keeps yelling _This is nice, we’ll do this and only this!_ and Steve backs off, lips pressed together and Bucky will understand and kiss Steve’s cheek before giving him some space.

Today is no different.

When Bucky leans back he sighs softly, “Alright, we’ll order some takeout and you can watch that lame NatGeo show about dogs on the streets or something.”

Steve puts the spinach bag down and looks at Bucky in disbelief, “It’s Animal Planet, you asshole and it’s about shelters.”

“Pizza or Chinese?” Bucky asks, already knowing that Steve doesn't like Chinese food. He really is a little shit.

“Pizza.”


End file.
